January 20th, 1974
Busted Everyone heads back to the Candy Castle club after Sonny's funeral. It's been a dull, grey day and the atmosphere in the club that night is absolutely dour. The club is pretty empty that night save for the Stranger crowd who have begun an impromptu wake for the departed Sonny. Byron arrives with Oscar in his crazy airbrushed van. Skin scowls at the side of his van as they get out and head inside. He looks around for da crew, needing armpumps and brewskies. Pulse is hanging out with his new friend, Rand McNally, and his book Atlas of American Roadways 1972. Prodigy stands away, detached from the group. While it was Sonny's wake, he seemed to be busying himself with pen and paper, writing a bunch science bullshit down on the pad. There are some unfamiliar faces here tonight. Everyone stops milling around when they see Byron come in, he takes to the stage on his own and grabs the microphone. "It's hasn't been an easy few months for us. And truth be told it's not going to get easier. But we need to pull ourselves together now more than ever. I see some new faces here, I want you to know you're among friends and if there's anything you need from me or anyone else. Don't hesitate to ask." Skin pipes up. "All friends here, people. We gotta have eachother's backs." Pulse builds something kind of amazing while that Prodigy kid plays with paper. Pogo has been back a day or two, and just just hanging out with Milou instead of the others. She prefers the company of the DOG. Pulse throws a paper airplane at Prodigy. Pulse 's paper airplane is design specs and a brusque note: "finish me!" Pulse hangs out with Pogo and the dog, immediately after throwing the airplane. Pogo just ignores Pulse, his dog is cooler. Skin waves at prodigy when he sees Pulse interacting with him. Prodigy: takes the paper plane from his hair, it landing right in it, and opens up the prints. Prodigy looks over at Pulse for a moment, pushing up his glasses. Challenge accepted. Somewhere near the bar a man is argueing loudly with someone. His strange speech mannerisms have an almost familiar ring to them. Prodigy nods to Skin as well, just to be polite. Pulse: Hey. I'm glad you came back. Pogo pretends to be deaf, to the deaf kid. Tact. Skin heads over to the commotion after giving Pulse a salute. "Whoa whoa, calm down man!" Pulse returns Skin's greeting. Pulse leans slightly, repeating himself after shifting position. In case Pogo didn't hear him. Prodigy fills in the blanks for the schematics, working very quietly. He occasionally looks up at the commotion. Pogo turns and looks at Pulse, answering simply, "Had to." Pogo indicates the dog, and then stands, heading away. Pulse: Wait- Are you leaving again? Or are you staying? Pogo goes over and asks Skin what's going on, somewhat incoherently, as usual. Skin shrugs, he's trying to figure that out himself. Prodigy looks over at Pogo, thrown off by her accent. He forgot it was awful, and now he remembers. Pogo: Nat abletoo figgurit out ey? Pulse studies Pogo and Skin for a moment, expression mixed, then heads over to Prodigy. "Hey." Gravedancer looks about, frowning. She folds her arms over her chest, burrowing a bit deeper into the seat she's taken out of the way. Prodigy holds out the prints to Pulse when he's close enough, nodding. "Finished. What did you need it for?" At the bar, the trouble seems to be coming from a middle aged man picking a fight with another patron. He looks really drunk. "Umlookin fer someone so just baggoff ya fucks. APRIL! APRIL?" Pulse: Everyone. Can you build it? Pogo drops down and hides behind Skin, or Pulse. Whoever seems handy Pulse: I have to go. Skin looks back at April. "Hey he'll talk to you, go talk to him." Pulse ditches Prodigy to head over to shouty guy. Prodigy stares at Pulse's back as he ditches, holding the plans out still. "...Yes." He says to no one. Pogo looks terrified that Pulse is heading over there, like she might try to stop him. The moment passes though and she just hides behind Oscar's back. Skin: Ugh, c'mon. Pogo: Fukinel! Aycoodkilem! Skin imitates April's voice perfectly. "Banga!" Pogo leans back and looks at him, clearly disturbed, "Shut it, serious!" Pulse holds his hand up slightly towards Pogo and Skin, and then waves toward the back room. Skin: You know what he does! Calm him down before he BLOWS US UP. turns quickly to the source of the voice. "April? Izzatyoo?" Banga turns quickly to the source of the voice. "April? Izzatyoo?" Glenn motions for the bartender to give him another of the same drink. Prodigy turns the blueprints over, starting to work on the other side. His eyes are rather wide, trying to block out the shitawful voices attacking his ears. Gravedancer bites her lower lip, chewing a bit. Her eyes keep looking over at the bar area, then away again. FINALLY she gets up, apparently looking for something. Pogo looks bewildered, then startled. She knees Oscar in the groin for his trouble, "Ya fucker, lookit what yoodun!" Pulse will intercept Banga, if he starts heading toward Pogo and Skin. Banga is cut off from his reunion by Pulse. "Juss lemme fru, kid. I got no quarrel wif yoo." Skin seems used to this sort of thing, so she knees him in the leg. He seems nonplussed and hops away. Pulse: I'm here to make sure everything stays friendly. You've been argumentative the entire time you've been here. Perhaps I can help you. Prodigy began to work on something, to most it would look like a series of lines, with humanoid outline in the middle. Numbers, weird letters, all that good stuff. Pogo stares hatefully after Skin, but doesn't try to follow him. Pogo looks around and sits down where Gravedancer is, hopefully out of the main view, "Soory, ya mind?" Pogo: Da's here, dant wanna deal withum. Banga regains his composure, clenching his fists in and exhaling sharply. "I just want to talk to her. This hasn't been my night. April can we just talk?" He tries to bob his head around Pulse to see her. Gravedancer appeared to have been talking to herself, starting violently when Pogo takes a seat. "Ahh--uh. No. Go right ahead. By all means." She shakes her head, muttering. "Shut up, I don't need to hear it." Blink, blink. "Oh, uhm, not you." She says that last bit back to Pogo. Glenn swirls his drink for a moment while watching Prodigy's scribblings, then suddenly perking an ear towards the travelers with a perturbed expression. Pogo indicates Skin to Gravedancer, "Ee's a right fuck, thatun. Sleep withim anee just dant wanna lookitya agin." Pulse holds up his hands apologetically. "It's not a good day for it, we've lost a very close friend and just had the wake. Everything's been very strange since." Pogo doesn't seem bothered by Gravedancer's talking to herself, though she does briefly glance around as though wondering if she's sitting on an invisible person's lap. Pulse lowers his voice slightly, murmuring more directly to Banga. Prodigy stands, looking at both sides of the prints. He blocked out the rest of the talk, tapping Pulse on the shoulder. Skin blows Pogo a kiss, the ghost of a grin on his face once again. Pogo tries to contain her temper. Gravedancer blanches, leaning back slightly. "That's....uh....too bad?" She makes a face at the KISSYFACE, since she happens to be looking in Skin's direction. Pogo clenches her fists and frowns. Skin then disappears into the crowd, moving around towards Glenn. You get used to familiar faces... Pogo: Haven't seen ya before though, y'new? Banga nervously clenches and unclenches his hands repeatedly for a minute and then just nods. "I dunwan make no trouble. Tell 'er I'll give'r a few days. But I wanna talk to her." Gravedancer: I've...come in once or twice. It's usually a lot more upbeat. Pulse nods slowly. "Making trouble in a place like this wouldn't end well for anyone. Have a good evening, sir." Gravedancer mutters again, her head jerking to one side. "Yes, yes, I can feel it. No need to harp on about it." Pogo: Gotta friend I can't see? Skin walks over to Glenn, standing next to him casually. He eyes his whole getup. "You don't look like you're from around here." Banga slinks away, looking back only once before he's out the door. Gravedancer goes a bit red in the face. "You could say that. Friend might also be a bit strong of a word." Pulse crosses the room, toward Pogo and Gravedancer. When he arrives, he taps Pogo on the shoulder. "He's left, for now." Boost makes his way toward Pulse and pats him on the shoulder. "Everything, alright?" Gravedancer stares at Boost, pointedly, as he comes up to Pulse who had come up to them. Pogo ignores Pulse like he's imaginary too. Glenn nods at Skin, holding his glass up for a second. "Yeah, that's right. I'm not. Place seems a bit busy tonight though." He has an Americanized Irish accent, and a soulless smile. Prodigy takes a deep breath, moving back to his seat to work on whatever the hell it was he was working on some more. Pulse looks up at Byron. "You should ask Pogo, since it's not my story to tell. But I got her argumentative father to leave peaceably." Skin: Yeah. You just checking out a new place, or something bring you here? Skin seems to be trying for subtlety and failing miserably. He also might sound like a drug dealer. Pogo looks sharply at Pulse, her lips curling like she's fighting an urge to start shouting. Boost looks at what Prodigy has been working on. "Are those what I think they are, Caleb?" Pogo nods her head toward where Skin and Glenn are, "Figgered im out, ees justa queermo." Glenn glances at Skin, looking him up and down for a second, "You know these folks, fella?" Prodigy: Possibly. Skin: Yeah. See, I came here for a reason. Maybe, you did too? Prodigy: If you think they are goggles with an odd design and even stranger function, then yes. Glenn: Sure. I heard this place was a regular riot. Pulse looks around for a moment, at everyone's faces, lingering on peoples' mouths as they engage in their respective conversations. And then he sits down with Milou against a wall, where he can see everything. Glenn smirks to himself and straightens his tie, "Could do with a few more ladies, though. Place is a forest." Gravedancer stares near Boost, but not at him. She's kind of fixated to his...right? Her fingers start drumming on the edge of her seat rapidly. Boost: I suppose these could help us a lot. What else have you two geniuses been working on? Boost turns his head to Gravedancer. "Everything alright, do I know you?" Pogo looks between Gravedancer and Boost, and then to the girl's tapping fingers. She excuses herself after glancing to see if her father's still around with a curt, "Seeya." Skin: Eh, it ain't that bad. You met the boss yet? Pogo jets over to the bar, edging Max out of the way if he's there so that she can get a drink. She gives Skin the biggest 'you're a fucker' smile she can manage. Gravedancer clears her throat. "Uh. No, I was just...admiring...the...architecture? It's a very nice bar." Her head twitches a bit, and she gives a big, toothy smile. Prodigy: turns over the prints over. "Based on observation with Doctor Bannon, the incident, and these schematics, I am trying to map out areas of different between say your brain and the standard homo sapien sapien. Prodigy: Along with potential chemical processes that could be occuring within the body to create the varied effects. Skin looks over to Pogo and leans over the counter, talking low. "So are you guys buddies or something?" Pulse closes his eyes for a moment, resting his palms against the floor. Pogo: Who? Skin: Banga. That guy. Skin imitates his voice. "April!" Pogo rolls her eyes, "Quitet." Gravedancer clears her throat again. "Also, this might be a bit awkward, but uh. 'Scuse me." She hops out of her chair, approaching the gap of space to his right. "Hey." She doesn't look like she's talking to him at all. Skin: C'mon, tell me and I won't bother him. What's the deal? Boost: Let me know if you need any help or samples or anything. I'd be interested to know if there actually is any-- Boost watches Gravedancer. "How many have you had?" Pogo liberates some whiskey, and just stares at Skin while she removes the cap. Gravedancer: Er, drinks? None. Skin: That's not an answer, that's whiskey. Pogo drinks from the bottle of whiskey, giving Oscar the best glare she can manage under the circumstance. Pogo glances at the other guy, Glenn. "Ya look likka yooosed caravan salesman." Glenn turns away from Boost to look at Pogo, muttering, "Samples...?" Pogo gives Glenn the LOOK, mama. Just like I taught 'ya. Boost: X-Rays? I'm not sure how looking at brain chemicals work. Pulse opes his eyes, watching Pogo and the dudes. Studiously. Kind of intensely for a kid. Pogo is actually drunk and a pikey. Glenn: I do then, do I? I don't sell caravans. Folks don't BUY em. Skin: Don't mind her, she's foreign. Pogo: Get fuckt, you're fo-ren. Glenn gives Pogo a sideways glance. "Not really." Pogo offers Glenn some of the whiskey from the bottle she has, "E's irish too, y'twat." Pogo glares at Oscar. Glenn: American now, but yeah. That's right. Skin: So uh. You two know eachother? Gravedancer recoils a bit, rubbing an ear. "Oh, gross." She looks between Boost and the space. "Not...oh, nevermind. I hate this part." She pulls up a chair, sitting down next to the space. AWWWKWARRD. Pogo: No? Glenn scrunches his eyebrows. "Yeah, we grew up on the same blarney stone." Skin: The heck is a blarney stone? Pogo laughs. Prodigy: X-ray, no. It wouldn't give me any useful insight, other than possibly for the rubber-one. As for someone such as yourself, an MRI scan would be best. Pogo confides to Glenn in gaelic, "His only power is to make his pecker seem less tiny. Don't mind him." Pogo sounds like she's babbling crazy to anyone who doesn't understand gaelic. Glenn rolls his eyes, "Tell me about these samples," he downs the rest of his drink and places the empty glass on the county with a heavy thunk. Skin: Who-what now? Boost: We're trying to figure out what makes us tick. This boy's a scientist. Tell us about this uh....MIB? Skin: -Oh. Woops. Skin moves out of the way so Glenn can hit up Boost. He looks important anyway. Prodigy: MRI. Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Put you in a giant magnet. Can observe your insides with it. Boost: And that's safe? Skin: Don't trust doctors, man. Gravedancer tilts her head, gesturing to the empty space. "Run that one by me again. Slower. And less...gross." She pays no heed to any stares. Pogo shouts at Skin in what we loosely will call english, "Banga's meauld man! Stoopid!" Skin: ... I'm just kidding, probably. Skin: - WHOA! Skin: WHAT? Skin: REALLY? Prodigy: Very sa- Pogo stares at him. Gravedancer also stares at him. Pogo stares bloody fucking murder at him. Prodigy stares as well. Pulse pinches the bridge of his nose. Pogo folds her arms over her chest and just waits for someone to say something. Skin: - Nothing to see here, guys. Pogo: Fooookin spastic Prodigy Very safe. There are a few risks, but most are exempt from them. Gravedancer pinches the bridge of her nose. "There a Caleb here?" The pinching gets more intense. Prodigy gives Gravedancer a wave. "That's me." Gravedancer: Uh. So, this'll sound weird but--what was that? F...I? Something like that. 'Pparently they're coming? Skin: -Oh no. Seriously? Skin: We gotta bail, man! Gravedancer keeps tilting her head, like she's trying to figure something out. Pulse cups his chin, watching Skin panic thoughtfully. Prodigy: MRI. Who is coming? Pogo rolls her eyes at Oscar's reaction. Gravedancer: He says...to stay put, don't resist, and don't say anything to them. Gravedancer shrugs, broadly. Gravedancer: Or, wait. Pogo pokes Glenn in the arm, "Ey, yoowana havago?" Skin: We should get outta here. Man, I can't believe they found this place! Boost looks to Skin. "What is it?" Glenn: You do this every night, girly? Pogo shrugs, looking unbothered. Prodigy: ...The cops? There's a clatter of activity from outside and then the distinct squeal of a megaphone being turned on. "Attention, occupants of the Candy Castle. This is the FBI." Skin: points at Gravedigger. "SHE SAI-" Pogo: Y'dant noo about sexual liberation? C'mon, who don't? Pulse is deaf. Gravedancer chews her bottom lip again. "Oh. Yeah, them, then." Prodigy: goes back to the prints. "I am not getting that." Skin: Boss, we gotta get you outta here. Megaphone Voice: In fifteen seconds, a team of trained officers will be entering the building. You will all comply, drop to your knees and keep your hands behind your head. If you attempt to resist arrest, we will employ force. Pogo stows the booze before the cops come in, sitting next to Glenn at the bar with a glass of water. Skin: or wait, do we? I dunno. Skin: They won't know me anyway, right? Prodigy: Do as they say. Gravedancer stammers out, standing up. "Okay, okay! Don't fight, uh, keep your powers secret. It's not about them." She twitches her head again. Pulse furrows his brow, watching Skin's response, and everyone else. Glenn pulls a business card from his wallet and places it in his breast pocket. "Knew this was just trouble." Pogo rolls her eyes, and sits there. Apparently pikeys hate cops. Skin: What if I look like one of them and I go back with 'em? Maybe I could find something out. Prodigy: Stop. Just do as they say. Prodigy: No mutations. There's a moment of unbearable silence. Suddenly, a flood of men in riot gear and toting weapons burst through the club's entrance. "On your knees, hands where we can see them!" Skin 's hands immediately go shooting up. Pogo: Dats apuure dose. Prodigy closes his eyes, doing so without any problem. Skin drops to his knees a second later. Pulse complies calmly, once he figures out what they're saying. Gravedancer gestures to the rest of them, then raises her hands up, complying. She whispers. "Oh, shut up. I do not need that right now." Pogo just stays seated on her barstool. Glenn gets up and calmly kneels on the ground, hands up. He seems cool as a cucumber, as they say. Pogo: Too puuuure demented mouldy ferdis, swear... The officers briskly move through the room clapping handcuffs on everyone. When an officer gets to Pogo, he yanks her violently off her barstool and onto the floor. Pulse has a bigass dog next to him. Pogo shouts as loud as she can when the guy does this. Pogo flails like a madwoman, it's apparently the way of her people. Milou looks at Pulse momentarily. Then he kind of strolls out the door past the officers, who are all of a sudden all looking at Pogo. The cop backs off for a moment, worried he's seriously injured the girl. The other cops fill in the gap and try to restrain her. Prodigy: Is there a problem, officers? Pogo tries to use the confusion to steal a badge or something. She's not picky With considerable effort, someone manages to get a pair of cuffs onto Pogo. Probably after getting kicked and spat at a few times. The others start to get dragged off outside towards a large police truck. A man in front of the van starts to read back their Miranda Rights. Gravedancer just sighs, hanging her head under her hood. "Oh, great." Skin: Whoa whoa whoa this is not cool. Pogo: Gobshite, no fookin shit? Boost: What are we being charged with? Glenn politely says while being dragged off, "My identification is in my pocket, Officer. I have no idea who these people are." Pulse tries to express his deafness to the five-oh. Everything would be so much easier if an officer spoke ASL. Pulse will probably earn a beating for his trouble THANKS CARTER Pogo yells at the cops if they start messing with Pulse, "E's fookin DEAF" -- she tries really hard to be coherent, how protective? A man in an FBI jacket strolls up to Glenn and takes the business card, looking it over. Agent MacLachlan: Can he read lips? Skin: Ooh shii- Pulse squints uncomprehendingly at MacLachlan. Pogo shrugs as best she can manage in cuffs. She reacts as though she's been in cuffs a lot. Agent MacLachlan frowns at Skin. He's frowning at all of them. "You're being charged with conspiracy to traffic narcotics and illicit goods, racketeering and conspiracy to commit treason. Do you all understand the charges being put forth?" Pulse shakes his head. Pogo: Dafuq? Skin: -WHAT? Skin: Man, I know you! What are you -talking- about? Gravedancer: Uh. I'm not sure I can spell racketeering, let alone be charged with it? Prodigy looks over at Oscar, lips pursed and eyes wide. UNHAPPY. Agent MacLachlan waves for another agent. "Chantel, take of of this one." He points to Pulse. "Make sure he understands the charges. Let's get the rest of them on the truck so we can start questioning." Agent MacLachlan: I don't know you. Have we met? Skin: Remember on the road? You hit my van! Pogo: Huh? A hint of recognition enters the man's face. He purses his lips and then shakes his head. "Get them all on the truck." Pogo hates Oscar so hard right now. Skin: Man, what's going Skin: -ON?! Pulse is going to microwave everything you love, Oscar. Glenn appears to be ignoring everyone there. He doesn't know you hooligans. Pogo looks at Skin like she doesn't even know him. The whole lot of you start to get herded into the van, except for Pulse who is being taken by the female agent to another car. Pogo: Wait, don't! Pogo struggles against the coppers as she yells, "I'm jest herewit him! My date! He's deaf, don't runnoff withim!" Skin: Man, stop doin' this! LAPD! LAPD! Pulse does his best to linger, in case he can get Pogo into the same car as he. Pogo: We dunno these druggies! I swear! Boost tries to sit himself near Jessica. "How did you know that would happen?" Pogo will whip up the tears pretty readily if they don't let her be wherever pulse is going. Agent MacLachlan seems to feel a pang of pity. "This one too, Chantel. But we really need to get this all off the street before I get chewed out for holding up traffic." Gravedancer leans her head on the back of the van. "Your friend told me. Sounded like it was coming through an old radio though." She gestures with her head to his right, again. The officers shove Skin into the van, ignoring his cries. "Keep it down." Boost: Which friend? What are you talking about? Prodigy waits patiently. Gravedancer just preps for the inevitable. Pogo is dragged off into the back of the black car where Pulse is sitting with a female agent. Gravedancer: I can talk to ghosts. One of them was hanging out near you. He knew. Pogo grabs on to Pulse and rolls out the tears. Skin: This is not cool, man! Boost looks dumbfounded. "W-what." Prodigy: Calm down. Pulse hugs onto Pogo as best as a handcuffed fella can and still communicate with the officer. He seems to be clarifying the charges somewhat? IDK, hard to tell with all the weird monkey faces and bizarre gestures sign language entails. Gravedancer mutters. "No one ever buys that. I should come up with a better story." The rear doors are slammed shut and the van slowly ambles off. It's rather dimly lit back there but you can see each other's faces at least. Byron snaps back to life. "Right. These are trumped up charges. Or they have the wrong guys. Here's what we do." Boost: No one say anything about your powers. Don't let them catch on. They can only hold us for so long without evidence. And there's nothing in that club. Glenn looks out the window. He's not involved. Nope. Skin: It's the LAPD, they don't need any damn evidence! Skin blinks like he said something bad. Pogo ends up just being pressed against Pulse's shoulder. She says very clearly to the lady cop between sniffles that she and her date just went there for drinks. Pogo says this with her face in full view of Robert Pogo: My da' even came t'try t'find oos but he couldn't. He don't like Rob 'cause ee's deaf. Well this turned out to be an awful way to spend a night. All you can do is keep your cool long enough to be released. What will become of our mischievious gang of freaks? TO BE CONTINUED! Category:Session Logs